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Blackblade 06.0 - The Rhone Forest Witch
Having returned to the edge of the northern Rhone Forest, Raito, Caelan and Ragoom decided to camp until daybreak. Setting out into the trees with the light of morning, they started the search for Mr. Grey and the solution to the mystery of the disappearing villagers. Early in the morning, Caelan caught sight of some wolf tracks. Following them to their source, they found a small wolf pack feeding on a deer. Taking this as a sign that they were not maneaters and therefore not the source of the disappearances, they carried on. Their investigation led them past a strange nest-like hut built around the base of some trees. Taking his retractable pole, Caelan jabbed one end through the thinly-covered entrance, poking the sleeping inhabitant harshly in the eye. Enraged and confused, a large male owlbear burst forth, clawing at Caelan in an attempt to maul him. With the help of Raito and Ragoom, the beast was brought down. However, when its den was investigated, it held no clues as to the whereabouts of the missing people. It was skinned and gutted for food, and Caelan claimed its hide and skull as mementos of the battle before they continued on the search. Coming upon a deer path, the group followed it to a small creek, which they decided to walk along. The afternoon quietly passed, when Caelan spotted something odd about a tree. The strangely shaped tree resolved itself into an ogre, who had apparently been lying in wait for something to unknowingly cross its path. When it realized that Caelan had spotted it, it ran forward, cruelly clubbing him over the head with the log it was holding. A fight broke out, but the three adventurers were eventually proven victorious. The brutish creature had nothing on it but a ragged loincloth of crude hide, but amongst the bones and bits it had decorated itself with was found a shattered human skull, not too old. Finding the path it had carved through the woods easy to follow, the group decided to camp for the night, leaving the trail until they had the light to investigate. The evening was quiet, and besides the grunting of another owlbear in the distance, the group was undisturbed. Bright and early, after a breakfast of owlbear, the trio followed the swath of destruction left behind by the ogre in its trek to the creekside. The trail was straight and clear, until it suddenly vanished. The strange occurance prompted Raito to search for magic, and found that the area before them was blanketed in some sort of spell. Finding nothing overtly offensive, they carried forward, and were met with a clearing. In the center was a small wooden cottage. Wary, Raito confirmed the presence of even more magic within the building, and Ragoom, using his clerical powers, determined the presence of evil inside. Deciding there was nothing to do but to investigate, the group knocked on the door of the hut. An elderly woman answered the door; the three men told her that they had been attacked by an ogre and wished to rest. She invited them in and offered a first aid kit to Caelan, who was the most obviously injured by the previous day's encounters. The woman introduced herself as Meredith, a widow living alone, and invited them to sit and have some tea. Raito asked her some questions regarding ogres and missing people, but the woman denied all knowledge of such things. When the tea was served, Ragoom noticed that it was actually an anesthetic brew; convinced that the current course wouldn't produce any results, Raito drew his blade and assaulted the woman. With a speed her age could not suggest, she blocked the surprise assault and threw herself at Raito, biting into his neck. Caelan and Ragoom attacked in turn, and she dropped the illusion that she had woven about herself, revealing her true nature: she was a huge, bruise-coloured hag, with wretched hair, feral claws, fangs, and a terrifying countenance. Her thick, lumpy skin resisted the adventurer's attempts to cut it, and her claws tore wound after wound, but between their superior tactical skills and Ragoom's mace, the wicked creature fell to the three men. Upon her death, the magic surrounding the hut vanished, revealing a much different scene. The hut was in actuality a crude lean-to, fashioned around some rocks. A large pot sat inside, filled with a fetid, wretched ooze, giving off a terrible smell. Deeper inside was a macabre pile of waste: bones, weapons and the other remains of people the witch had devoured, a crude collection of the materials that could not be torn and eaten. On the walls were make-shift shelves, where the hag had collected bottles, knickknacks and other things: some worthless, some disgusting and others charged with magic. In all, the group identified the bodies of twelve men and four children, though there was no sign in particular of the missing businessman. They collected up the weapons, armour and other useful items spared from the witch's appetite, including a magical hat, bottle, and a strange frog trapped in an old jar. As Raito worked to identify the properties of the items, the frog's odd behaviour became more apparent. Eventually, between its movements and the faint traces of magic around it, the three concluded that this frog may very well be Mr. Grey, trapped in a curse. Packing up the items and the skulls of the deceased, they set back towards the town to report to Aiden. They managed to return to Rochester by the evening. Aiden was still at the desk of the AAA, barely managing to stay awake. After a bit of convincing, Aiden reluctantly accepted their story that his employer was now an amphibian, and implored them to fix it as soon as possible. He mentioned that the only spellcaster he knew of in town was a man named Yomiel, the Hospital Bomber of Kalleandar that Jack had mentioned. However, the night was late, and it was decided that nothing else could reasonably be accomplished before morning, so the three took rooms at the AAA and slept off the forest's trials. Category:Banishment of the Blackblades